BILL REQ. #:  S-4552.1 

READ FIRST TIME 02/09/04.   

     AN ACT Relating to requiring storm water and wetland mitigation for public-use airports to be compatible with safe airport operations; amending RCW 90.74.020; and creating a new section.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF WASHINGTON:

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 1   (1) The legislature finds that:
     (a) Most public-use airports have large tracts of open, unimproved land that are desirable for added margins of safety and noise mitigation. These areas can present potential hazards to aviation because they often attract wildlife. Wildlife use of areas within an airport's approach or departure airspace, aircraft movement areas, loading ramps, or aircraft parking areas may cause safety hazards resulting from collisions between wildlife and aircraft;
     (b) A 2003 memorandum of agreement between the federal aviation administration and several federal agencies reports that wildlife-aircraft strikes are the second leading cause of aviation-related fatalities worldwide and that during the 1990s, wildlife-aircraft strikes damaged four thousand five hundred civilian United States' aircraft, destroyed nineteen aircraft, killed six people, and caused an estimated four billion dollars worth of damage and associated losses; and
     (c) New public-use airport development projects may result in unavoidable impacts to storm water runoff or wetlands that require mitigation. Storm water and wetland mitigation that attracts or sustains hazardous wildlife on or near public-use airports can significantly increase the potential for wildlife-aircraft collisions.
     (2) The legislature intends that regulatory decisions by the departments of ecology and fish and wildlife regarding storm water and wetland mitigation resulting from public-use airport development projects should, to the maximum extent allowable under federal and state law, be compatible with safe airport operations.

Sec. 2   RCW 90.74.020 and 1997 c 424 s 3 are each amended to read as follows:
     (1) Project proponents may use a mitigation plan to propose compensatory mitigation within a watershed. A mitigation plan shall:
     (a) Contain provisions that guarantee the long-term viability of the created, restored, enhanced, or preserved habitat, including assurances for protecting any essential biological functions and values defined in the mitigation plan;
     (b) Contain provisions for long-term monitoring of any created, restored, or enhanced mitigation site; ((and))
     (c) Be consistent with the local comprehensive land use plan and any other applicable planning process in effect for the development area, such as an adopted subbasin or watershed plan; and
     (d) For infrastructure development involving public-use airports, be consistent with the federal aviation administration's recommended land use practices related to compatibility with safe airport operations.
     (2) The departments of ecology and fish and wildlife may not limit the scope of options in a mitigation plan to areas on or near the project site, or to habitat types of the same type as contained on the project site. The departments of ecology and fish and wildlife shall fully review and give due consideration to compensatory mitigation proposals that improve the overall biological functions and values of the watershed or bay and accommodate the mitigation needs of infrastructure development. The mitigation needs of infrastructure development involving public-use airports include the need for compatibility with safe airport operations.
     The departments of ecology and fish and wildlife are not required to grant approval to a mitigation plan that the departments find does not provide equal or better biological functions and values within the watershed or bay.
     (3) When making a permit or other regulatory decision under the guidance of this chapter relating to the infrastructure development needs of public-use airports, the departments of ecology and fish and wildlife shall consider the compatibility of the permit condition or regulatory decision with the aircraft and airport operational safety requirements of the federal aviation administration. The departments of ecology and fish and wildlife may not require an airport operating under the authority of chapter 14.08 RCW to engage in land uses that are incompatible with the federal aviation administration's recommended land use practices relating to aircraft and airport operational safety.
     (4) When making a permit or other regulatory decision under the guidance of this chapter, the departments of ecology and fish and wildlife shall consider whether the mitigation plan provides equal or better biological functions and values, compared to the existing conditions, for the target resources or species identified in the mitigation plan. This consideration shall be based upon the following factors:
     (a) The relative value of the mitigation for the target resources, in terms of the quality and quantity of biological functions and values provided;
     (b) The compatibility of the proposal with the intent of broader resource management and habitat management objectives and plans, such as existing resource management plans, watershed plans, critical areas ordinances, and shoreline master programs;
     (c) The ability of the mitigation to address scarce functions or values within a watershed;
     (d) The benefits of the proposal to broader watershed landscape, including the benefits of connecting various habitat units or providing population-limiting habitats or functions for target species;
     (e) The benefits of early implementation of habitat mitigation for projects that provide compensatory mitigation in advance of the project's planned impacts; and
     (f) The significance of any negative impacts to nontarget species or resources.
     (((4))) (5) A mitigation plan may be approved through a memorandum of agreement between the project proponent and either the department of ecology or the department of fish and wildlife, or both.